Good morning, Uni Watchers. I hope everyone had a good Tuesday.
We’ve got big uniform news this morning, as the NHL and Fanatics have unveiled jerseys for 30 of the 32 NHL teams (both the LA Kings and Anaheim Ducks will be receiving newly designed uniforms, and those will be unveiled separately). I have broken down the jerseys for each team by division (links to follow), but let’s take a look at some of the new jerseys here along with their features.
With the NHL Draft occurring in Las Vegas Friday and Saturday, the NHL and new uniform supplier Fanatics have released the home jerseys for all 30 teams whose uniforms will have only slight changes for the 2024-25 season. Dubbed the “Fanatics Authentic Pro NHL on-ice uniforms,” these are the first Fanatics-branded and designed NHL player uniforms. These jerseys will be given to each draft pick after their name is called on stage.
Beginning with the 2024-25 season, Fanatics becomes the official outfitter of the NHL’s on-ice uniforms for the next 10 seasons. The new uniforms are being manufactured by Quebec-based SP Apparel, the same company that has provided the NHL’s on-ice uniforms for nearly 50 years.
Fanatics states their design and development process, in collaboration with the NHL, “included active participation by a number of critical stakeholders, including NHL players, the National Hockey League Players’ Association (NHLPA), and executives and locker room personnel from every NHL Club, thereby resulting in a high-quality jersey engineered for the modern hockey player.”
With the exception of the Ducks and Kings who’ll be shortly debuting new designs, 28 of the 30 remaining clubs will be wearing uniforms that are mostly unchanged from the 2023-24 season. The Utah Hockey Club — formerly the Arizona Coyotes — will be debuting new uniforms this year as well. UHC recently unveiled preliminary graphics showing their new jerseys, logos and colors a short while ago. The Boston Bruins, who wore special one-year Centennial uniforms last season, will revert to the uniforms they wore in 2022-23.
While the new uniforms will bear striking visual similarities to those worn last season, there are some new attributes.
The jersey’s base construction remains similar to the current jersey standard, but new features of the Fanatics Authentic Pro uniform include:
• An additional layer of fabric inside the lower sleeve to enhance uniform durability intended to reduce material wear from sustained friction against the boards. This enhancement was the direct result of feedback from NHL players and equipment managers.
• New shoulder fabrics replacing the debossed pattern fabric used on the shoulders of the prior NHL jersey. (In other words, the “adidas dimples” are now gone.)
• A new NHL Shield execution on the front neck of the jersey which includes a special hologram finish.
• Fanatics branding embroidered on the back neck of jerseys.
“Over the past several months, Fanatics worked with the NHL and NHLPA to visit all 32 Clubs, where players had the opportunity to see, feel and try on the new uniforms,” states Fanatics. “Throughout these visits, the Fanatics Authentic Pro on-ice uniforms received positive feedback. The players were glad to see that Fanatics kept the base construction similar to what they were comfortable playing in, and also that some slight design and performance adjustments have been made to the uniform.”
Here’s a video narrated by the legendary Doc Emrick explaining a bit about the new jerseys:
As noted above, I’ll provide links to every team by division, so you can look at several different views of the 30 home jerseys. Each team will have a couple looks at the full jersey, as well as close-ups of some of the new details. Unfortunately, there are no rear views of the jerseys (we may need to wait for the Draft to see the number/NOB treatments). Here’s what you’ll find in the Divisional breakdowns to follow:
• Full-size graphic of the jersey:
• Slightly different angle of the jersey on a mannequin from inside the factory:
• Close up of the crest being stitched:
• Alternate view of the jersey on a drafting table (note the Montreal jersey features the French-language “LHN” initials on the shield):
• Close up of the fabric pattern/colors:
• A look at the Fanatics logo which will appear just beneath the rear collar of each jersey:
The teams in each division are as follows:
Atlantic
Boston Bruins
Buffalo Sabres
Detroit Red Wings
Florida Panthers
Montreal Canadiens
Ottawa Senators
Tampa Bay Lightning
Toronto Maple Leafs
Carolina Hurricanes
Columbus Blue Jackets
New Jersey Devils
New York Islanders
New York Rangers
Philadelphia Flyers
Pittsburgh Penguins
Washington Capitals
Chicago Blackhawks
Colorado Avalanche
Dallas Stars
Minnesota Wild
Nashville Predators
St. Louis Blues
Utah Hockey Club
Winnipeg Jets
Calgary Flames
Edmonton Oilers
San Jose Sharks
Seattle Kraken
Vancouver Canucks
Vegas Golden Knights
_____
* Anaheim Ducks
* Los Angeles Kings
*Kings and Ducks uniforms will be unveiled separately.
To see the Atlantic Division jerseys, Click Here
To see the Metropolitan Division jerseys, Click Here
To see the Central Division jerseys, Click Here
To see the Pacific Division jerseys, Click Here
GTGFTU pic has the best-ever Falcons’ uniform. I will die on that hill!
I agree wholeheartedly sir!
Amen!
Take that uniform and replace the old logo with their current modernized logo and you have a contender for best uniform in the NFL!
GTGFTU is Cowboys @ Falcons on Sunday, November 21, 1976. Final score: Dallas 10 Atlanta 17 from week 11.
I’m sure there aren’t many readers here who draw a distinction between different maker’s marks, but for me the Fanatics logo looks so cheap compared to many other brands.
I will say this, I do like the fact they went with white and the teams colors as a background. It is certainly not as obtrusive as Nike would have done.
That’s probably just the negative connotation you have when you see it. In an abstract sense it’s as good or bad as any of them. At least it’s not Nike and they’re demanding to be on the front, crowding out the team’s logo.
Nike actually has a good logo though, and with some jerseys (like soccer) they actually put less branding than other manufacturers (looking at you Adidas with stripes everywhere).
Yes, you’re right. There is nothing that intrinsically conveys a sense of quality when I see Adidas, Nike, Puma, Umbro, or Kappa logos, but I know from experience that offerings from those brands will always be high quality.
It does. In part because it’s only associated with cheap merch. Of course these on ice jerseys will be fine, but the fan ones will probably get worse quickly over the next few seasons.
Fanatics overall is cheap. Just take a look at the Florida Stanley Cup merch that just came out. If you compare it to other championship merch like the Super Bowl, NCAA Football/Basketball Championship, World Series, NBA Finals, etc, it looks like the cheap apparel that you would usually find at Walmart. Other companies that manufacture NHL apparel like Mitchell & Ness, ’47 Brand, and now Starter, make their fan apparel much more appealing than some of the crap coming from Fanatics. Fanatics is all about fast and cheap while charging higher prices to maintain a profit. Fanatics is everything that is wrong with fan merchandise.
Mitchell & Ness has now gone the way of Majestic and become another fanatics brand
Yes, but that is their demographic. Selling affordable merchandise. This is their entrance into premium apparel. Let’s see how they evolve.
As a game used collector, I miss the Adidas dimples. Like MLB pinstripes, they intersect in a unique way like a thumbprint, so in a high quality photograph, the dimples can help photo match jerseys.
As a Uni Watcher, the dimples were goofy and they did nothing except shout “I’m Adidas, in case you can’t see the logo in the back.” So I don’t miss them 100% unequivocally.
The dimples always looked cheap to me.
Do jerseys still have Fight Straps? Or is that a thing of the past now?
YES! They’re making their return with the new jerseys. I visited the Fanatics HQ in NYC a couple weeks ago, and they showed me the new jerseys. The top-of-the-line (don’t remember what they’re calling it) jersey WILL have the fight strap in the jerseys available to fans. That’s different from adidas.
That’s awesome! I always loved that the authentics had them on the old CCM jerseys in the 90s
It’s not a return, they never left. They’ve always been available, including on the non-MiC “authentic” jerseys.
I was going to say the exact same thing. The fight straps never left. I have a couple non-MIC authentic Adidas jerseys and all have fight straps.
The 4 tiers:
Authentic Pro – official on ice player version
Premium – High Retail, compared to current addidas retail version
Breakaway – ecomony retail, machine washable
Practice Jerseys – The teams practice jersey will be available for sale to the public as well.
Oh man, that video made me miss Doc so much. Sean McDonough is just bland.
Absolutely!! I was thinking the same thing.
NHL jerseys easily have the best logo treatment/details of any of the big 4 sports
Agreed and almost every team is at or near their best all-time look. Take note, other leagues
[crosses fingers for Ducks and Kings]
We’ll see what the retail versions look like. The perception around Fanatics is already rock bottom. Any perceived errors or low quality issues are going to be criticized likely more so than any other manufacturer’s would be, just due to Fanatics’ reputation. Perhaps they’ll over-deliver. I wouldn’t bet on it.
For me, it’s been all downhill for NHL jerseys since the Reebok takeover in 2007. Too many teams’ identities got botched for no real good reason, and while some have returned to their former glory, too many others have down-graded or taken the opportunity to fix what wasn’t broken.
This all coincides with the rise of retail of course. More jerseys, more product to sell. But as I realize I am just sounding like an old man yelling at the clouds, I humbly digress.
I am so happy the shoulder dimples are gone on the NHL jerseys. I remember when adidas introduced them with their new uniforms and thinking it look unnecessary and ridiculous. Of course, we got used to it over time but I’m real happy they are gone.
I don’t miss them. It was almost adidas’s attempt to engineer some “LOOK AT ME!” into the uniform without putting 3 stripes everywhere. Sort of how Nike butchered the basketball template with truncated stripes on the jerseys and off-center notching on the shorts. Or the thinned-down headspooning on Nike MLB jerseys. Or the unnecessary weird tailoring template on Nike football jerseys. Damn you, Nike…
I have to admit, my initial reaction is positive. There is no “story-telling” of light fabric or crap like that. In fact they added fabric to the sleeves for additional wear. These really look like solid jersey’s and also excited they are offering the on ice version for retail.
It is wild to me how different the jerseys look without the sleeve numbers. Every other element is there, but without the sleeve numbers they look completely fake to me. I guess it is just the knowledge of what the on-ice product actually looks like, so just that one element missing is a giant contrast.
But with that context in mind, otherwise they look like they should and aren’t giving off the awful vibes of NIke’s MLB roll out this year.
Scoreboard appears to be from August 26, 2004.
link
Interesting to see the matrix board in “hey, where’s the data?” mode.
Kee-reck!
Here’s what the submitter said to me in an e-mail:
This game took place on August 26, 2004 at GABP in Cincinnati between the Cardinals and Reds; it was a very quick game that starting pitchers Chris Carpenter and Aaron Harang both completed, with the only run coming on a Sean Casey solo home run in the sixth inning. What’s notable from a scoreboard perspective is that the B&W portion of the park’s large left field scoreboard showed essentially an error screen for the entire game, as seen in the first attached image, which I took during the second inning. There was simply no information on any board in the park about balls/strikes/outs, who was batting, who was pitching, statistics, etc. for much of the game.
By about the fourth inning – once they realized they weren’t going to be able to fix the issue – they managed to superimpose a small graphic from what I believe was the Reds television broadcast onto the color portion of the scoreboard to the right (seen with the final score in the second image from after the game) to show basic things like the score, and balls/strikes/outs. Even then, it wasn’t much, forcing those keeping score to resort to on-field visuals and PA announcements to identify players – a heavenly throwback of sorts. It certainly was one of the more memorable games I’ve ever attended in person based on the scoreboard alone.
This was a fun one to find, I looked up the years that Chevy was using An American Revolution Slogan and looked at all the games played between those teams during those years.
Glad the dimples are gone
As a vocal critic of Fanatics, I am surprised by what appears to be a very straightforward and seemingly high-quality set of jerseys being debuted. Of course they’re putting their best foot forward for this stage of the PR project. I’m cautiously optimistic based on this initial data, but I will withhold final judgment until I see these uniforms on the ice.
Not a single uniform ad on any of the sweaters in the galleries……as god intended.
It is hard to tell and I haven’t seen anyone mention this but it appears that the scooped hems and wavy waist stripes have been replaced by straight stripes and hems. The scooped hems or diapers also looked silly to me, along with the dimpled shoulder. Anything to get back to the look and feel of the Ultrafil jerseys of the late 1980s and early 1990s is good.